Cantonal guide: Aargau
Much of inheritance law is cantonal – for example where the will is handed in and which taxes apply. Here are the key points for the canton of Aargau.
Handing in and opening the will
In the canton of Aargau, you hand a will in without delay, in the original, to the district court (Bezirksgericht) of the last residence – even one that looks incomplete or probably invalid; the court presidency (Gerichtspräsidium) is in charge. A will or inheritance contract deposited with the district court is opened by the court of its own accord after the death. The court sets an opening date and publishes it in the official gazette of the canton of Aargau (Amtsblatt); the heirs receive a copy of the parts concerning them. The opening carries a cost, charged to the estate.
Certificate of inheritance
In the canton of Aargau, the court presidency (Gerichtspräsidium) of the district court at the last residence issues the certificate of inheritance on the written application of an heir (form "Bestellung einer Erbbescheinigung", signed). An executor may also order it; anyone ordering for another person encloses a power of attorney. The court obtains the list of heirs (Erbenverzeichnis) from the municipality, which names the legal heirs, and also certifies whether there is a will and what it changes about the legal succession. The certificate is issued only after the three-month renunciation period has passed – or earlier, if all heirs expressly accept the inheritance before then. Note: whoever still wants to renounce the inheritance does not sign a declaration of acceptance. The court bills the applicant for its own costs and those of the municipality – usually CHF 300 to CHF 2'500. Order only as many copies as you really need; each one costs. You can also order the list of legal heirs (Erbenverzeichnis) yourself from the municipality, online via the canton's SmartService. You need the certificate of inheritance for banks, the land registry and insurers.
Renunciation and public inventory
In the canton of Aargau, you declare the renunciation to the court presidency (Gerichtspräsidium) of the district court at the last residence – in writing, signed (form "Ausschlagungserklärung"), by post or in person, an ordinary e-mail is not enough – within three months. For legal heirs the period runs from the day you learned of the death, for appointed heirs from the court's notification of the will. In the form you name your own descendants: if you renounce as a legal heir, your share passes to them, and they too must renounce if they do not want the inheritance; adult descendants fill in their own form, for minor children both parents sign. The renunciation carries a fee. A public inventory with a call to creditors is also requested from the district court, within one month from the same point; the court orders it, the municipality draws it up, the call to creditors appears in the official gazette, and the cost is borne by the person who requests it. Once the inventory is closed, the court gives you one month to accept or renounce the inheritance.
Inheritance tax
In the canton of Aargau, spouses, registered partners, descendants (children, grandchildren; adopted children count as descendants), stepchildren and foster children, and parents, step-parents and foster parents are exempt from inheritance tax – the same applies to the spouses and registered partners of these persons, for example a daughter-in-law or son-in-law; for foster relationships, where they lasted at least two years; step and foster relationships must be proven in writing to the cantonal tax office (Kantonales Steueramt). Other heirs pay a tax whose rate depends on their relationship to the deceased and on the amount, in three classes: persons who lived in the same household as the deceased for at least five years without interruption – up to the date of death or until one of them entered a retirement or nursing home; usually a life partner – 4 to 9 percent; siblings and grandparents, and their spouses, for example the wife of the deceased's brother, 6 to 23 percent; everyone else – nieces and nephews, uncles and aunts, parents-in-law, step-siblings, non-relatives – 12 to 32 percent. There are no allowances; if the tax for one person is less than CHF 240, it is not levied. The cantonal tax office assesses the tax from the estate inventory and the tax return as at the date of death; the municipality prepares the assessment, and as a rule no separate inheritance-tax return is needed. The tax office contacts the heirs who owe tax.
The municipality's official estate inventory
In the canton of Aargau, the municipality of the last residence opens an inventory procedure after every death – the inventory authority is the municipal council, which entrusts the task to the inventory office (Inventuramt, usually part of the municipal chancellery; some municipalities call it "Erbschaftsamt"). You do not have to report the death for this yourself. Usually about a month after the death, not earlier, the contact person for the heirs receives the tax return as at the date of death from the municipality; in it, you state the assets and debts as at the date of death (accounts, securities, insurance, property, vehicles, household goods). The deadline is in the cover letter – often 30 days – and can be extended on request to the municipality; ask before it runs out. If no inheritance tax is due – the usual case for spouses and descendants – the signed tax return up to the date of death is enough; once it arrives, the inventory counts as closed. The inventory office draws up a full estate inventory if at least one heir is liable to inheritance tax or an inventory is requested; it then contacts the contact person. The municipality seals rooms, containers and bank safe-deposit boxes if a person entitled to inherit asks for it within three days of the death – or if estate assets appear at risk. Until the inventory is taken, you may dispose of the estate only with the inventory authority's consent; open a bank safe-deposit box only in agreement with it. The inventory goes to the cantonal tax office (Kantonales Steueramt) for the inheritance tax and serves the heirs for the division. Keep the records of assets and debts as at the date of death in a safe place.
The deceased's tax return
For the year of death, a tax return has to be filed up to the date of death. The tax office of the municipality of the last residence sends it to the heirs' contact person, usually about a month after the death, not earlier; the deadline is in the cover letter – often 30 days – and can be extended on request to the municipal tax office – ask before it runs out. You gather the figures yourself and send the return back signed; it is at the same time the basis of the official estate inventory – if no inheritance tax is due, the inventory is as a rule closed once it arrives. Spouses file two tax returns for the year of death: a last joint one up to the date of death, filled in by the surviving spouse, and one of their own for the rest of the year.
Last checked: September 2026, against the canton's official pages. Is something no longer right? Let us know.
The application prepares; you act. It does not replace legal or tax advice.